Spirit of Hope
A Nation Created in a Spirit of Hope | |
|---|---|
| Motto: Hope is the Spirit of Freedom | |
| Capital | Haless |
| Official languages | English |
| Demonym(s) | Hopians |
| Government | Federal Presidential Constitutional Republic and Monarchy |
| House of Lords | |
| House of Citizens | |
| Establishment | |
• Signing the Treaty Creating A Nation in a Spirit of Hope | 1653 |
| Population | |
• 2019 estimate | 524,000,000 |
• 2016 census | 523,645,720 |
| GDP (nominal) | 2018 estimate |
• Total | 30.02 Trillion |
• Per capita | 57,643 |
| HDI (2018) | .932 very high |
| Currency | Mark |
| Driving side | right |
| Internet TLD | .soh |
A Nation Created in a Spirit of Hope, commonly known as Spirit of Hope (SoH), is a country comprising of 13 kingdoms. The capital is Haless, which also serves as the capital for that kingdom.
The boundaries of Spirit of Hope were created in antiquity, with the creation of the Fromosian Empire. The Fromosian empire lasted a little over a century before collapsing due to internal power struggles. In it's place thirteen separate nations arose, and began to fight for dominance of the region.
In 1594 the Formation Wars began when X and Y went to war over a disputed bit of territory, the conflict quickly engulfed the entire region, and by 1601 every one of the thirteen nations was involved in the conflict. Over the next fifty years the region was devastated by the war, and the original cause of the war was quickly forgotten. By 1652 all participant nations were exhausted from the war, and due to complicated dynastic marriages, ongoing conflict, and assassinations, most of the royal families had consolidated on King Abelard the First. Starting in 1653 King Abelard held a series of peace negotiations to end the conflict and consolidate his new realm. In 1654 the Treaty Creating A Nation in a Spirit of Hope was signed, creating the modern empire and setting out the government system.
Politics and Government
Spirit of Hope is divided into 13 independent kingdoms, each controlling internal policing and government. The federal government is responsible for governing trade between the kingdoms and foreign policy, however by controlling the distribution of tax money it is able to heavily influence each kingdoms internal policies.
The federal government has three branches:
- The Executive: Formally the Emperor is the head of the Executive Branch, however all power has been devolved to the office of the President. The executive branch is generally responsible for the foreign relations, some regulatory actions, and the governance of the empire.
- Legislator: Made up of the House of Lords and House of Subjects and headed by the Prime Minister, makes federal laws, sets federal taxes, and is responsible for some regulation of the empire.
- Judicial: Headed by the Supreme Judiciary, it investigates crimes, conducts trials and arbitration, and interprets laws and how they interact with the founding treaty for Spirit of Hope.
The Executive Branch is separated into multiple Departments each headed by a Councilor, the President appoints the Councilor but requires the consent of the House of Subjects and Lords for each appointment. The President is elected every 6 years and is restricted to only one term in office. Each Department has limited powers to control administrative actions and to conduct policy within its assigned area.
The Legislative Branch is made up of the House of Citizens and House of Lords. The House of the Citizens has 600 seats, representing multi members districts apportioned by population. Districts can, and often do, cross kingdom lines and are designed to group geographic and ethnic regions by the Judiciary. Elections must be held every 6 years for all seats, though snap elections may be called based on certain criteria, the House of Subjects elects the Prime Minster from within their ranks. The House of the Lords has 250 seats, 200 elected proportionally and 50 appointed by Imperial Guilds. Formally each member of the nobility holds a non voting seat in the House of Lords and may petition for the right to address the body. Elections are held every 4 years with half of the seats being up for election. The Legislative Branch has a small number of departments that answer to the Prime Minister instead of answering to the President, most prominently the Department of the National Guard.
The Judicial Branch is made up of a series of court levels, Inquiry, Court, Appeal, and Treaty at the imperial level. While the Executive Branch conducts regulatory actions, such as fines and licensing, the Judicial Branch is responsible for formally investigating breaches of the law that could result in criminal trials, the conduct of trials, and the interpretation of laws, which is reflected in the levels of the court with the Inquiry level being responsible for formal criminal investigation. A list for nominations is made by the next higher level of court, a specific nominee is selected by the President, and confirmed by the House of Citizens and Lords. The highest Court level is the Court of the Treaty, members are nominated by sitting members with a limit of 21 Judges and the formal head of the Judiciary is the senior member of the Treaty Court, called the Lord of Laws. By tradition the Lord of Laws retires from his position after serving for two years, though often they retire sooner.
Military
The President is the commander in chief of the country's armed forces, with the exception of the National Guard, and appoints the heads of the different branches of the armed forces under his command, the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Emperor's Own. Total active forces are over 1 million personnel, with reserves bringing the total to around 2 million.
Military service is voluntary, however conscription has been used in the past and in extreme circumstances the President can call for conscription again. Between the Navies amphibious assault ships, and the Air Forces transport capability, the Spirit of Hope armed forces can rapidly deploy anywhere in the world.
The total Budget of the armed forces in 2022 was over $700 Billion. During that time the Spirit of Hope Army has a budget of $310 Billion, composed of 10 active divisions, 7 reserve divisions, the Emperors Own Brigade, and a number of independent smaller units. The Air Force and Navy each have a budget of $243 Billion in 2022.
Spirit of Hope is a declared nuclear power, with it's primary means of delivery being ICBM's carried by the nations submarine force. A limited number of air and surface launched cruise missile warheads are declared. Spirit of Hope denies any chemical or biological weapons, but does carry out defensive research.
Law and Criminal Justice
Laws within Spirit of Hope is largely split between two levels, Imperial and Kingdom. Imperial authority is dictated by the founding treaty of Spirit of Hope and encompasses a number of items but can broadly be understood to involve crimes that cross Kingdoms and crimes that attack Imperial Authority. Kingdoms are empowered create and enforce their own laws within the Kingdom, so long as those laws do not violate the founding treaty. Local municipalities are generally not empowered to create or enforce their own laws, with exceptions for major metropolitan areas referred to as Imperial Cities.
Spirit of Hope Courts are based on common law principles, with the founding treaty serving as a semi written constitution. The Courts of Spirit of Hope are formally responsible for the investigation of criminal charges and partner with the relevant law enforcement agency to investigate crimes. For criminal law a specific Inquiry Justice overseas the investigation of a group of crimes for a specific area, ensuring law enforcement complies with the law in their investigation, after the Inquiry Justice is satisfied with the level of evidence the mater will be handed off to a Court Justice. A Court Justice then appoints a Prosecuting Attorney and Defending Attorney for the conduct of the trial. Civil actions must first be brought before the relevant Inquiry Justice who is empowered to act as an arbiter and decides if a case is worthy of consideration by a Court Justice. Most legal issues are handled by Kingdom Courts, with Imperial Courts overseeing violations of imperial law and taking up appeals under some circumstances from Kingdom courts. In all trials participants can ask for a jury of peers or betters, with peerage determined by the Census Ministry.
At the Federal level the National Guard is charged with law enforcement and civil defense and has a budget of $85 Billion. The National Guard is considered as one branch of the armed forces, however it is the only branch that answers to the Prime Minister instead of to the President.
Kingdom Sheriffs are responsible for the enforcement of Kingdom laws, how each kingdom appoints its Sheriff and their deputies varies from kingdom to kingdom, with most Sheriffs being politically appointed by the head of government in the Kingdom and deputies.
Imperial Cities are major metropolitan areas, often extending over more than one town or cities territory and can even cross over Kingdom boundaries, that are recognized by the House of Citizens and granted certain privileges. One of these privileges is the ability to create and enforce their own laws, allowing Imperial Cities to raise their own law enforcement agencies, however kingdom and imperial laws take precedent over any city laws.
Capital punishment is outlawed outside those subject to the Code of the Armed Forces, and no execution has been conducted since 1956. The incarceration rate was 123 per 100,000 in 2020.
Foreign Relations
Spirit of Hope has an established structure for foreign relations, falling under the Department of Foreign Affairs. The Department of Foreign Affairs establishes embassies and consulates in other countries and maintains diplomatic relations on behalf of the President. In addition the Department of Foreign Affairs is responsible for combining and corelating intelligence from the Independent Intelligence Agency, Signals Intelligence Agency, and Space Intelligence Agency.
Spirit of Hope generally attempts to maintain a neutral international stance that is focused on increasing trade with a secondary emphasis on increasing democratic norms and human rights. Spirit of Hope has a standing policy of not recognizing states that engage in slavery and working to free saves across the world.
Economy
Spirit of Hope is a developed country with a high income and mixed economy. The private sector is estimated to constitute approximately 55% of the economy. Imperial spending accounted for roughly 30%, with kingdom funding, including federal transfers, amounting to the remaining 15%. With abundant natural resources and a large industrial base, Spirit of Hope is a net exporter despite its postindustrial economy.
Major finished exports include electronics, cars and parts for cars, and ships and other vessels. Spirit of Hope is also a net exporter of oil and other petroleum products, along with other raw resources such as natural gas, coal, iron, copper, lead, magnesium, tungsten and graphite.
The various governmental level of Spirit of Hope work to maintain low debt and a strong fiscal reserve to counter financial emergencies. The Imperial Bank is the central bank for Spirit of Hope, it is run as a public private collaboration.
Transportation
Spirit of Hope has a technologically advanced transportation network, consisting of high speed and normal railways, highways, bus routes, river and canal routes, and air routes that crisscross the country.
High speed passenger rail lines connect the major cities of Spirit of Hope, with services at 400 km/h. In addition their is an extensive regular rail network that connects smaller cities and towns, along with providing for the majority of bulk and heavier goods transportation. All major cities have urban subway and rapid transit systems.
There are over fifteen international airports in Spirit of Hope, that regularly support large international flights as well as internal flights, both for passengers as well as freight. Three major domestic airlines dominate the market, however smaller airlines exist and many international flights are owned by international airlines.
River and canal services still support the bulk transfer of some goods, such as iron and some agricultural goods, however they are largely a legacy system that has been overtaken by rail for other markets.
Electric vehicles account for 2.3 percent of vehicles on the road in 2020. Use of electric vehicles is encouraged through increased taxation on gas and subsidized charging stations.
Energy
Nuclear Power produces 80% of Spirit of Hopes electrical power, with the remaining 20% produced by a combination of hydro and solar. Construction of new nuclear power plants is ongoing, with three more reactors scheduled to come online in 2030 and cover the decommissioning of older reactors. Spirit of Hope enriches it's own uranium, however a majority of the uranium is imported.
Renewable energy sources, such as hydro, solar, and wind, have been gaining a larger market share over the last two decades, rising from less than 10% in 2000 to slightly over 20% in 2018. The role of renewable energy sources continues to increase, with plans for hydro, solar, and wind sources to account for 40% of the energy grid by 2050.
Healthcare
Healthcare in Spirit of Hope is a public-private partnership characterized by a single payer model with Kingdoms operating public health facilities, such as hospitals, and primary services, such as GPs, being privately owned by receiving rebates from the government.
Science and Technology
Spirit of Hope has been a strong contender in science and technology since the mid 19th century following government investments in higher education and improvements to public education.
Aerospace
Spirit of Hope has a robust Aerospace industry dominated by two competing launch companies with multiple smaller launch companies competing and developing, the Air Force is responsible for military launches, and the Imperial Space Agency conducts research and development.
The ISA maintains a small space station used for research purposes in a low earth orbit, plans are under way to launch a deep space station to support planned deep space manned flights to the moon and beyond. In addition the ISA has landed unmanned probes on the moon and several planets of the solar system, conducted flybys of every major bodies of the solar system, and maintains a deep space communications network.
Technology
Spirit of Hope is a lead designer and manufacturer of computer chips, with the ability to manufacturer chips down to 5-nanometre, though it does not produce enough microchips to meet domestic needs.
Education
Education in Spirit of Hope is broken down into three levels, preparatory school, primary school, and higher education. Preparatory school and primary school are both mandatory and funded by the Kingdom governments with grants provided by the Imperial government. Higher education is heavily funded by the Imperial government with some funding inputs from Kingdom governments, government backed schools higher education institutes means test their tuition.
Preparatory school covers from ages 5 to 11, Primary ages 12 to 18. Higher education covers bachelors, masters, and doctorate degrees.